Ceartais United: Dark Streets of Zootopia (A Take a Stand AU)
by Zarpaulus
Summary: An alternate universe/recursive fanfic of Crewefox's "Take a Stand". What if Robyn Wilde and Hannah Savage hadn't become superheroes, but vampires! What if they were in space? What if it was the middle ages?
1. Chapter 1

A shadowy figure stalked the Sahara Square night, hunting for prey. He had the pick of the herd still, the authorities had grown complacent and no one had even taken notice of his last few victims. He felt able to get away with swiping one of Zootopia's rich and famous, but which one? He had already tasted wolves, deer, rabbits, even a tiger, what species could be next on the menu? His gaze settled on a couple of teenage girls leaving the amusements of the dockside. One of the two looked like a rabbit at first glance, but she was oddly large for a mere bunny, almost as tall as the white vixen standing next to her. And since when were bunnies orange or had tails that long? Now that he took a closer look he thought that the vixen had some odd black stripes on the side of her face too.

Hybrids? Oh, this was a once-in-an-unlifetime opportunity. If he let them escape now there was no telling if he'd have another chance for such an exotic meal. He bided his time until the girls left the promenade and he could catch them in an isolated area.

"This night has been incredible." Hannah asserted as Robyn led her out of the Sapphire Quarter. "It's too bad it has to end so soon."

Robyn drew her girlfriend in closer. "Really, you should be thanking my sister for getting us reservations. I'm just lucky to have you two in my life." A thought sprang to her mind and she stopped to consider it.

Sensing something was off, Hannah turned back to face the other hybrid. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Robyn reassured her. "I was just thinking about how if this was a movie, we'd be hit by an earthquake or tsunami or something."

Hannah gave a slight chuckle in response. "Good thing we're not in Hollywood then. I'm just sorry we have to be back by 10:30."

A third voice joined in the conversation, "the night is still young." Both hybrids abruptly started to turn around, only for a pair of black-furred arms to slam them into the wall with surprising strength. Robyn tried to kick their attacker back, but her foot only connected with a surface as unyielding as a brick wall. He was slightly larger than themselves, possibly a badger, all they could make out was a black shape and a patch of white hanging above two glowing red eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" Robyn shouted, struggling to get free from the badger's iron grip. "You can't get away with this!"

"Silence." The badger said, coldly, calmly, with an unmistakable air of authority. "You will not speak to me like that again." Robyn tried to voice her protest, but her words caught in her throat. Before she could move to resist again, the badger drew his pointed muzzle towards the fox-bunny cross's neck. "I wonder what you'll taste like. A bunny? Or a fox?" He whispered just before opening his mouth wide and sinking his teeth into her throat.

"NO! Robyn!" Hannah exclaimed as her girlfriend's blood spurted down the side of her neck and the vicious mustelid lapped it up hungrily. She couldn't bear to watch as Robyn's life blood darkened her already red fur, but something bade her to keep her gaze on the morbid scene, her eyes blinked closed and open again just as rapidly. Her tears did not blur the vision enough, even through the refraction of the salt water she could see her struggle, slow, and stop moving entirely. Hannah struggled to lift her arm from under the vampire's grasp, but his grip was like iron.

The badger licked the last drops of blood from his lips. The orange hybrid was still breathing, but barely, she didn't have much time left without a transfusion. Noticing the other hybrid's attempts to wriggle free he was struck by a fresh, most malicious idea. "Don't want to watch this, do you?" He took Hannah's stifled whimper as an affirmative response. "Well, then I'd say you've seen enough." He reached a pair of three-inch claws towards the vixen-hare's eyes.

His blunt digging claws tore the vixen hybrid's eyelids from the delicate orbs they covered. Gouges across her corneas filled her field of vision with that first swipe, before he pushed them in. Hannah shrieked in pain and terror as her eyeballs popped like swollen grapes, blood mixed with vitreous fluids streamed down her cheeks, staining her white fur crimson.

The vampire withdrew his claws, licking them clean of the gelatinous red fluid. It tasted much the same as the other hybrid's blood, a blend of rabbit and vulpine. He'd already sated himself on her companion, this other one was surplus. Perhaps he could hold her for later, or perhaps… he had a wicked idea as he glanced over at the still remains of his previous meal. What was it that moose had said? They needed more specimen data or something? He set the blinded hybrid aside and drew a claw against the pad of his other hand, evoking a few drops of his own precious blood. What would they make of a hybrid specimen? He wondered as he squeezed a couple drops between the orange bunny's fangs.

The Embrace was interrupted by a challenging roar echoing down the alleyway. He looked up to see the largest lioness he'd ever met in his life come barreling down at him, claws and fangs bared. She swiped at him with a paw as wide as his whole stocky body and just barely leapt out of the way in time. His enhanced reflexes only affording her a nick on his side. The leap brought him to the side of a nearby building and he clung there as he surveyed the scene. This lioness wasn't simply large, she was nearly the size of a rhino standing on all fours as she stared up at him, a savage gleam in her eyes. Something about that massive feline left him thinking that he couldn't win a fight with her, he'd just leave as soon as his cut healed. He concentrated on the gash along his side, and nothing happened. Blood continued to seep from a wound that refused to close despite his willing it shut. He was still trying to puzzle out why when the lioness leapt up to drag him down into her waiting jaws.

Hannah crept along uneasily along the ground. She'd been puzzled when the badger dropped her and frightened when she heard the roar and the approaching footsteps of something larger. But whatever hold he'd had on her mind had faded with her vision. Now she hoped she could just slip away and find a hospital in time, help her godparents recover their daughter's body.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the second creature roaring again, not five feet from where she was crawling. Hannah froze dead in her tracks as she heard something crash, snap, and crunch in that thing's grasp. Something wet, sticky and cold splattered the teenage hybrid and she was immersed in the scent of stale blood. Even so, the hare-vixen found herself wiping some of the cold liquid off her dress and licking it from her finger. It was indeed blood, cold, stale coppery-salt blood, but there was something else to it. A strange sensation like an instant overdose on caffeine.

She felt energized, like she could run a hundred miles or fight off a horde of enemies, if only she could see. If it weren't for the utter blackness that was her vision right now, except for that odd red shade. Hannah turned and a bright red shape, vaguely like a massive mammal, stood out in the blackness. It was holding something in its claws, pale orange and fading, pieces dropping off of itself. The hybrid turned away, hoping it wouldn't notice her, and saw a rippling pattern of colors slowly filling out an oddly familiar mammaloid shape. She reached out slowly and felt Robyn's downy fur, now cold as the grave. Hannah whimpered with the realization, but something about the indistinct colors she saw brought up a slight glimmer of hope, why?

"I have a reading, I'm going in." Olivia said as she guided the hulking steel golem she'd dubbed "Spitfire" off the rooftop into the alleyway that lay below. The were-lion looked up just as the golem's rigid fist slammed into her face. The werebeast staggered back, dropping the bloody chunks of her last victim in the process. Olivia's construct hit the pavement feet first milliseconds later. Rearing up she shouted through Spitfire's enchanted faceplate, "you're not hurting anyone else tonight you, holy shit! Hannah and Robyn?"

Hannah perked up from her stance leaning over the fallen body of her date, her eyes fast shut but still streaming blood. "Help! She needs blood soon! He took it all."

The Spitfire golem slammed into the were-lion again, forcing her even further back. Olivia spoke off to the side, not audible through the golem. "Tell Luna to be at Fifth and Dune in five minutes with a pint of her sister's blood type. I'm taking this monster down now!"

The hulking lioness swiped a vicious set of claws across Spitfire's breastplate, gouging the inch-thick steel. But the golem pressed on, driving a heavy shoulder into the were-lion until she abruptly leapt away. "Oh, no you don't!" Olivia shouted, bounding after the beastial feline. The untiring golem caught up as the were-lion reached the dockside, grabbing her tail and dragging her down just as she was about to scale another wall. Cornered, the were-lioness turned around and grabbed hold of the golem, sinking her claws deep into its plates. As they struggled Olivia forced the two of them onto a wooden pier stretching out into the bay. They wrestled down the narrow stretch until, above water deep enough to cover the both of them, Spitfire managed to shove the were-lion over the side. The feline clung to the golem's arms and struggled to regain her footing, but Spitfire wouldn't budge even as the boards of the pier creaked and one finally broke. Plunging the two of them into the inky waters below.

"Damnit!" The Scottish mouse exclaimed as the astral link with her golem was severed. "Why couldn't it be vampires who have a problem with running water instead of astral projections?"

Olivia rose from her meditation cushion with an air of annoyance. She swiftly looked around the base to see that her support team had left, understandable, given what she'd said about their granddaughter. Finding herself alone, Olivia sighed and decided she might as well start designing the Spitfire Mark IV.

Hannah continued clinging to her girlfriend's still body as the sparkle-toned giant chased off the bright figure and a new set of outlines in grey or silver approached. Two of them tried to pick up Robyn but she wrestled and fought them, exclaiming "she's still alive! Stop!"

"It's okay Hannah," one of the figures, her outline broken and clouded with static, spoke in a voice of reassurance underlaid with an unmistakable tremble of anxiety. "She's safe in our hands now."

"Lu… Luna?" Hannah gasped, slowly recognizing the voice of Robyn's older sister. "Luna, Robyn needs a lot of blood, fast."

"We know, we're hooking up the IV now. Hannah can you tell me what happened here? Can you open your eyes?"

It was only then that the teenage hybrid realized her eyes had been squeezed shut the whole time she'd been seeing outlines and colors.

The young EMT setting up Robyn's IV with rabbit blood they hoped was compatible with the hybrid's body had seen a lot of patients in his short tenure in emergency medicine. Most of them made it to the hospital, some of them didn't, and a few times they arrived too late to save anyone. Looking at the bloodless bunny-fox hybrid on the stretcher, he mentally placed her in the second category, possibly the third save for the faint pulse he'd felt when transferring her to the ambulance. Still, they had to try to save every mammal, and she was Dr. Wilde's half-sister after all. He sighed as he lifted the hybrid's arm and carefully inserted the needle.

No sooner had the needle pierced her skin than Robyn's eyes shot open and she leapt off the stretcher to slam the surprised EMT into the wall. She lunged for his neck teeth bared, only to stop short of biting down at the sound of a shocked "Robbie!" Robyn turned her gaze to see her older sister, wearing her lab coat and reaching for something in her pocket, a grave look on her face. Next to her was a mammal Robyn barely recognized as Hannah, her dress stained with what seemed like more blood than the dye used to color it. And then she noticed the gaping blood-rimmed holes above the other hybrid's muzzle.

Robyn stared, slack-jawed for a full minute before finally asking, "Hannah, what happened to your eyes?"


	2. Chapter 2

_One week after the attack…_

As the sun's fading rays slipped away from the modest condo on the outskirts of Zootopia an orange-furred hand reached between the curtains covering her bedroom window. The moment the light touched the hand blisters swelled and the young hybrid drew her hand back in pain. Robyn examined the blistering the sunlight had left and considered the irony of it all. The night had shown its ugly face to her, and now she was trapped in its' lightless grasp. Porphyria cutanea tarda they'd called it, a rare blood disorder that left its sufferers allergic to sunlight, normally genetic but it seemed like her blood transfusion had interacted with her hybrid cells in some unexpected way to give her the disorder. There was some hope that once the transfused blood had cleared from her system the disease would clear out too, but as the nights went by it seemed more likely she'd be returning to school with the nocturnal students.

The hybrid's attention was drawn to her father opening the door to her bedroom. Nick's face had barely changed from the sorrowful expression it had held since his younger daughter and goddaughter had been savaged in the night. He asked, not expecting a hopeful response, "How are you feeling kid? Any better today?" Robyn shook her head and showed him her blisters. Nick winced at the sight, "Hannah's here. She'd like to see you if you're up for it." He waved behind himself and Robyn caught sight of the other hybrid, her eyes, or rather the sockets they'd once occupied, were covered by a black strip of cloth and she stumbled her way up the stairs with a red-tipped cane in front of her.

The orange hybrid rushed past her father to embrace her girlfriend, almost bowling the striped vixen over. Robyn just barely caught Hannah in time and led her up the rest of the stairs, tears welling in her eyes. From the sniffling sound she made as Robyn led her, Hannah felt much the same way.

Nick stood aside as his daughter led his goddaughter in and sat her down on the bed. "I'll leave you two to catch up," he said, turning to leave. "Yell if you need anything."

As Nick left, Robyn found herself staring into her girlfriend's blindfold. Hannah seemed to have picked up the other hybrid's general whereabouts and was facing back at her. The two of them stood perfectly still for a minute until Nick's steps had faded into the distance, and then they broke down sobbing. Holding each other tight, tears leaking through the cloth over the eyeless vixen's sockets.

 _Two hours earlier…_

"I shouldn't have to remind you how many rules I'm breaking here." Luna grumbled as she led her paternal grandparents into the hospital morgue. "I'm only doing it for the faint possibility that it would help Robbie. I'm done with this business of yours."

Robin Loxley sighed as his granddaughter flipped through the records attached to a clipboard she'd picked up. "You can't honestly tell me that this affair hasn't set off your hunter instincts. Do I have to review the facts again?"

Luna found the drawer she was trying to look up and started towards it. "Robyn, Hannah, and a honey badger named Bunga Sudenland were attacked by a were-lioness a week ago. Robbie's carotid was severed and she nearly bled to death before the EMTs arrived. Hannah's eyes were gouged out. Sudenland was torn to pieces so small he could only be identified by DNA analysis." She waited a few moments for the elder foxes to confirm, but when they remained silent she added something. "Hannah and Robyn told the police that Sudenland was responsible for their injuries and never saw the were-lioness, but that might be a side effect of Lunacy."

As the younger vixen opened the refrigerated door with the badger's remains Marian threw in her own observations. "The injuries on your sister and her girlfriend were rather precise for a savage were-mammal, you know that."

"Which doesn't necessarily mean that Sudenland was a Monster." Luna picked up the smallest shred of Bunga's flesh that she could find, a finger from the looks of things. "He could easily have been a mortal psychotic mammal."

"That's what we're here to find out." Robin added, opening an opaque ziplock bag for the piece of shredded mammal. When Luna had reluctantly placed the finger in it he closed the bag tightly and hid it under his coat.

Leading them back out, Luna tried to act disinterested in what her grandparents were up to next, but a nagging voice in the back of her head wanted to know what they had in store for the sample they'd stolen. There were a number of Monsters that actively preyed upon mammals, and they had different identifying characteristics. And then there was Robyn's entirely unprecedented sudden-onset porphyria, that couldn't be connected, could it? As they reached the exit Luna couldn't help but ask, "what kind of test were you planning to perform on that?"

Her grandfather looked around quickly, seeing nobody else around he pulled the bag back out. "A very simple one." Robin opened the bag and turned it towards the slowly setting sun, almost immediately smoke started pouring out. A few second later the older fox turned the bag upside down, ashes poured out and blew away in the slight breeze.

Luna stared into Robin's face as his ears turned down and his eyes closed in an expression of sorrow and dread. She turned to her grandmother and saw she had the same expression as she spoke. "It's as we feared then."

The young ex-Hunter's mind raced as she tried to think of Monsters that might exhibit those traits. Preying on mammals, predilection for bloodshed, extreme photophobia, there was only one answer. "Oh no," she murmured, faced with the dawning realization of what she was seeing. "Not Robbie, no."

 _Elsewhere, as the moon rises…_

Kion stormed away from his parents house in a fury. Mom was a cop, why weren't they doing more to try and find Kiara? Two of his friends had been savaged by a mysterious bloodthirsty mammal on the same night she had gone missing, why had they seemingly given up so easily? He gazed up at the full moon and thought. Hannah Savage had been blinded and Robyn had been hospitalized, that much he knew for sure, but the school rumor mill had distorted everything else. They were mugged by a badger, they stumbled upon a mammal getting eaten by a Morrigan junkie, there was even one guy who thought they'd been attacked by a vampire and Robyn couldn't stand the sun anymore because she'd been turned by him. And then there was that one rumor that had circulated to him, that the savage mammal who'd ravaged them was a lion, it couldn't have been his sister though, could it?

The teenage lion was jolted out of his thoughts by a stabbing pain in his back. He reached behind himself to yank a metallic tube from his shoulder blade, a red synthetic bristle on one end and a hollow needle on the other. Kion found himself feeling drowsy, staggering as he looked around for the source of the dart. His vision fading he thought he saw a van pulling up beside him and a pair of mammals in black bodysuits rushing out to grab him.

An indeterminate amount of time later Kion found himself tied to a stretcher with thick leather belts, somebody around him talking. "You sure this is him?" One voice said.

"He fits the description of the brother. Teenage lion with a reddish mane. And besides, if it's not him the leeches could use another snack."

"They have been getting restless since we forbade them from going out to hunt. Too big a risk after the last time you know."

"In any case we need to extract a sample for analysis."

Kion saw a figure covered in surgical scrubs approach him, carrying a scalpel with an uncanny gleam to the blade, brighter than any steel blade he'd seen. He tried to squirm away as the figure came close, causing them to turn and call for more tranquilizers.

What did these mammals want with him? A sample? What kind of sample? And what were these "leeches" they were talking about? Did they say the leeches would eat him? Were they responsible for Kiara's disappearance? One thing was clear, he couldn't let them get away with this!

Kion's muscles bulged as he strained against his restraints, pulling and trying to tear the thick leather off of him. He spotted the edge of the belt around his chest fraying just as one of the black-clad mammals came in with a rifle. The sight of the rifle galvanized something in him, suddenly the thick belts seemed no stronger than cellophane, as he ripped his way free and leapt to his feet the other mammals seemed to shrink before him, retreating from his might. He was a lion for God's sake, the king of the jungle!

The mammal with the gun lifted his weapon a second too slowly, Kion's claws reached out and swept the rifle from his hands with no more effort than lifting a large book. In desperation the mammal in scrubs threw his scalpel at Kion, who felt a searing pain as the razor-sharp blade grazed his shoulder. These vermin had to pay for making him bleed!

He swept his arm out and caught the two smaller mammals, slamming them into a wall that dented from the impact. Kion's surprise and curiosity was enough to bring him to tear a hole open in the wall, outside was an abandoned parking lot. They were in the van he'd seen earlier.

Realizing he had a chance to escape and find what these mammals had done with his sister the powerful were-lion leapt through the hole he'd torn into the moon-illuminated night.

 _Back at the Wilde household_

They'd been locked in their tight embrace for what felt like hours before Robyn looked up to the night sky. The full moon hung high over the city as Hannah clung to her more tightly. "Don't leave me," she whimpered, breathing in her scent.

Robyn stroked her girlfriend's ears soothingly. "Don't worry, I was just thinking. I've been stuck in my room ever since I got home from the hospital."

Hannah gave a slight nod in sympathy. "Mom and Dad haven't let me go out since I was blinded. They're worried I might hurt myself."

"I physically can't go outside in daylight, and my Dad is too overprotective to let me go out at night again." Robyn sighed in exasperation as she contemplated the view outside her window again. "Sometimes I think I should just sneak out, jump out that window and run off."

"Think you could take me with you?" Hannah added, cocking an ear out towards the same open window.

Robyn snorted, "honey, I would need to carry you down, and you know that you're… whoa." The orange hybrid had reached underneath her girlfriend with one arm to try lifting her as a way of demonstrating, and found that gravity offered her virtually no resistance. She held Hannah above the floor in one hand, light as a feather.

The striped hybrid reached frantically for some surface to set herself on. "Robbie, did you just lift me up one-handed? When did you get that strong?"

"I don't know?" Robyn responded, lowering Hannah slowly to the floor. "It was like you were practically weightless. I'm going to go check something." She stood up, walking over to her desk on the other side of the room. Judging it carefully, she braced herself and effortlessly lifted the piece of furniture up to her eye-level. "Holy shit!" She exclaimed, dropping it in shock and letting it crash back to the floor, one leg landing on her foot.

"What was that?" Nick's voice called up from downstairs.

"Just moving my desk Dad!" Robyn responded quickly, lifting the desk leg off her foot. "Something fell behind it."

Then her dad's footsteps started towards the stairs. "Are you alright? You're not doing anything untoward up there, are you?"

Robyn looked down at her crushed foot, the skin was broken and it felt like bones had cracked, if not broken, but there was only a drop of blood visible. As she stood there staring, she swore she could feel the bones snapping back into place and the skin knitting already. Thinking quickly she shouted "oh gross Dad! No!" She heard him pause on the way up. "And I'm fine, really."

"If you say so princess." The fox-bunny heard Nick start to walk slowly away from the stairs and she breathed a sigh of relief. As his steps grew more distant Hannah carefully felt her way over to her girlfriend's side, sniffing the air excitedly. She reached out to Robyn's proffered arm and walked her hands down the orange hybrid's side.

"Hannah, what are you doing?" Robyn asked.

Hannah continued down Robyn's leg, sniffing more rapidly as she neared the little spot of blood on her foot. "Your blood smells like his." She replied, and then, to Robyn's shock and astonishment, lapped the blood up with her tongue. "Taste like his too."

"What the hell Hannah?" Robyn said, pulling her foot away and leaping back, falling onto the bed.

"I'm sorry Robbie," Hannah said, crawling towards her again. "After that monster tore out my eyes, after that savage mammal ripped him to shreds, his blood fell on me and I tasted it." She blinked her empty sockets once, twice, and then she was staring blindly straight at Robyn. "The taste energized me, like I'd downed half a pot of coffee, and for a short time I could see again." She thought for a second and shook her head. "No, not quite, I could perceive mammals as colored shapes, but nothing that wasn't alive. I'm seeing you now Robbie, a pale blue and green outline in a black void."

"How is that possible?" Robyn asked out loud. "My blood lets you see? I'm porphyriac, my blood is defective, it doesn't…" She trailed off, something clicking in her head. "The doctor said that I might be treated with regular transfusions if the condition proves to be persistent. That badger drank my blood, could he have had porphyria as well and somehow passed it to me?"

Hannah shook her head. "I think this is beyond normal medicine Robbie. Think about it, sunlight burns you, you have super strength, your blood does weird things to people who drink it, and you developed all these conditions after another mammals sucked out your blood."

The orange-furred hybrid looked back at her girlfriend incredulously as she realized what she was implying. "You can't be serious."

"I am," the blind hybrid stared straight at her as she spoke. "Robyn, I think you're a vampire."


	3. Chapter 3

In a far off downtown part of Savanna Central, Sasha was snapping photos of the lovely nightlife. Kodi was supervising her as the Jones family had gotten the news of Robyn and Hannah's near death experiences recently and Gazelle didn't want any of her children to be the next victims of the night.

"You know the nightlife does host a lot of wonders we can't see in the daytime," observed Sasha snapping a photo of the big star filled sky.

"Haha and you'll be on that action right away," laughed Kodi. "We definitely can't get these stars in the afternoon."

"Why not become new stars right now?" Said a mysterious male voice. Kodi and Sasha whipped around to see a smartly dressed coyote with jet black fur who looked like he was sipping some red drink from a plastic water bottle. Probably fruit punch though it looked rather thick from the way some of it dropped down his maw.

"Who the hell are you," questioned Kodi balling up a fist in his left paw.

"Names Vincent Rich," replied the coyote. He made his way over after chucking his empty bottle into a recycling bin by a garbage can. "Listen, I couldn't help but notice your girlfriend is a fan of nightlife and picture taking."

"Sasha is my sister," Kodi corrected. "I'm her adopted brother and we're the children of the famous Gazelle singer."

"Ah famous children," Vincent said with a smirk on his face. "Anyways, how'd you 2 like to be star guests at a private art and photography show at the museum tonight?"

"Hmm, the thought of being star attractions is nice," Sasha piped in. "But our friends recently were in the hospital from a attempted night murder and we're not sure about spending too much nighttime."

"Yeah And our mother wouldn't want us sent to our home in body bags from strangers," Kodi added.

"I promise you that I'll stick close by you and have a special group tend to your needs," Vincent replied with a toothy grin. He pulled out a scruffy looking card in with black scribbled writing. "Look, present this to the guardIan at the entrance and he'll let you in to our reserved room." He walked away fast grinning once he turned away. Oh they'd be stars tonight if they accepted because who was he to pass up the chance at a bite of celebrity life?

"Kodi, I enjoy the idea of art shows but that Vincent creeps me out," Said Sasha. "What should we do?"

"I guess we could check it out briefly just so we don't hurt the guy's feelings," thought Kodi. "Look, I'm prepared if he or anyone he knows wants to rob us or murder us." He set his chestnut handbag on the ground and pulled out a Taser. "Mom went out for one of these after the news of the attack on Hannah and Robyn. Plus don't you got dad's pepper spray?"

Sasha remembered it and pulled out a tiny bottle of pepper spray from her purse. "Yeah, almost forget dad actually getting me one of these."

"Then we're set," Kodi remarked. "Just need to text mom of where we'll be tonight so she knows where we'll be at" he whipped out his cell and texted out a quick one:

*Mom, Sasha And me were invited to an art show by a nearby smartly dressed coyote named Vincent Rich after he became interested in her photography. We're going to check it out but we're on our guard in case he or anyone there will try anything funny okay?*

He got a quick response:

*okay Kodi, that's okay with me but you watch out for your sister and yourself in case he's planning a trap for a mugging or an attack. I don't want to see you 2 on the news being in the hospital because this random coyote tricked you*

Kodi responded fast:

*No worries mom, I've still got my taser on me and Sasha has dad's pepper spray. Anyone there will be in for pain if they try jumping us!*

In response, she typed:

*that's my boy! Okay, have fun you 2! Love you*

"Hey Sasha!" Called Kodi pocketing his cell. "Mom gave us the approval and we can go!" Sasha smiles and the 2 set off without noticing an unseen female leopard watching them from behind some trees.

"Wesley, this is Sarah speaking," Said the leopard into her cell. "Listen carefully, I've spotted Vincent luring a couple of new victims into a trap at an art show at a downtown museum and they're the children of the famous pop star Gazelle. We've got to protect them and stop Vincent once and for all. Meet me at the Savannah art gallery in 20 minutes. We are not letting them be abducted into his clan!" She put her cell away and quickly Made her way to catch the next bus to the art show

—-

*Savannah Central art gallery 9pm*

The Jones children didn't have to travel too far to reach the Savannah Art gallery. Once at the entrance, Kodi showed a zebra guard named Ivan Vincent's card and he let them in along with a piece of paper showing them Vincent's room.

The art gallery in this section of Zootopia hosted many of the past wonders of the previous generations but had a bigger focus on nature. Tonight, however it was only open for a private event hosted by the same mammal that had invited them to him as 9 pm is usually the closing time for the building.

Sasha and Kodi walked far past the main area full of ancient land displays into a new under construction dimly lit room full of smartly dressed mammals. Most of them were wolves but you could spot a couple of armadillos and even some horses chatting about. A snack table full of stuff like a big bowl of fruit punch, chocolate fingers, strawberries, vegetables, deli meats and cheese were in the center, an arctic male wolf DJ was churning out some music on a cheap looking bar stool and table that had gotten some mammals on to dance(it's the New Order song Confusion but the Pump Panel Reconstruction Mix) And on the left side of the snacks was Vincent himself drinking what appeared to be more thick fruit punch from another plastic bottle.

"Ah Sasha And Kodi, Welcome To My little private art show gathering!" Vincent boomed once he laid eyes on them. "Quite an honour to have children of a celebrity be our Special guests tonight!" A few suited mammals looked over in amazement before turning away.

"Yeah, we're glad to be here!" Kodi replies shaking hands with Vincent. Sasha shook too but both of them noticed his hands felt rather cold. They tried not to show their discomfort though in case this was a trap. "So where is all the art and why host the event in such a dimly lit room?"

"Oh, you'll find a lot of our art through there," Vincent answered pointing to a see through sheet covering another hole in the wall. "The event is hosted in this dimly lit room because it's the only one our group could afford for cheap considering it's still under construction and I technically had to persuade Ivan to let us use it just for tonight since rooms under construction aren't really suppose to be used by those who aren't construction crews."

Vincent of course was lying since Ivan technically wasn't keen on some new strangers wanting to host such a short notice private event but the guard had gotten a bit of temporary hypnosis from the coyote into letting him in. By the time Ivan regained his senses, the Jones children would either be dead or more new members provided nothing interrupted him.

"Okay, we'll check it out," Said Kodi before grabbing some chocolate fingers for him and his sister. "Come on Sasha, lets see what these mammals consider art." The two made their way through the sheet unaware that Vincent and a few of the suited mammals were gazing at their backs with hungry evil smiles.

The art room with the art looked rather crude. Most of the stuff was statues of different species of predators doing flips or their feral counterparts chasing scared feral prey. Surprisingly there were no other mammals besides Sasha and Kodi inside it but they did notice that there seemed to be what looked like a lot of fake blood dripping from the feral statue fangs.

"Man, this must have been a boring get together if all they got are these statues with feral ones dripping fake blood," yawned Kodi.

"They seemed to be fascinated with feral history from the amount of feral statues they have and the fake blood," Sasha added snapping photos of the items. She then noticed a large mammal shaped black tarp on a big dolly by a locked exit door. "Hey, what's that?"

"Probably some important relic Vincent wants to unveil, we shouldn't touch it," said Kodi.

They then saw that the tarp had a bit of red liquid on it. Sasha sniffed at it and then tasted a drop which got her eyes to widen in horror.

"Kodi, this red liquid is telling us that this isn't a safe place and that's likely not a statue," Sasha said slowly. Kodi looked confused but then decided to take a sniff and lick at some of the red liquid too. He got scared too.

"Holy crap, it's blood!" Kodi added but had to keep his voice down. " so that's likely a dead mammal in there? You suppose they're murderers?"

"Maybe but I don't want to stick around in case the two of us are going into body bags next!" Sasha replied quietly.

The two of them walked back quickly through the sheet but Vincent intervened quickly by dashing in front of them.

"Whoa, slow down Jones children.," Exclaimed Vincent with a toothy grin, "you're not leaving our festivities already are you?"

"Uh, my sister has a bit of a headache and needs to go home!" Kodi yelled quickly. Sasha nodded yes fast and hoped they'd get away from these potential murderers.

"Oh sorry to hear that," Said Vincent, "on second thought, I just think we'll speed up our finale for you 2, won't you please stay?"

Both of the Jones children didn't want to stick around longer but if Vincent insisted there wasn't much left and there was only one more event, they could put up with it. After all, they came prepared.

"Alright But make it fast as she's in a real hurry to rest," Kodi added and glancing towards Sasha who was actually panicking on the inside but managed to put on a convincing worried look that wasn't too alarming.

"Don't worry, just get your weapons ready if they try anything," whispered Kodi to Sasha. The small Gazelle snuck out her pepper spray into her right pants pocket while Kodi dug out his taser carefully into his left pants pocket. Suddenly a large clanging came above them. They both looked up to see a large walkway above them with Vincent dragging out what looked to be a large gray beer keg and a gray tub going into the hole of the keg dripping something dark that they couldn't see from the dim lights.

"My friends, I invite you tonight to witness a glorious occasion with our 2 special guests Kodi and Sasha Jones!" Boomed Vincent pointing at the two teens. "Being children of the famous pop star Gazelle has made me decide we should celebrate with a glorious going out present courtesy of myself!"

Every suited mammal clapped and cheered at the Jones children before turning back to Vincent who began unleashing and spraying the keg liquid all over the still cheering audience but it wasn't beer. It was red and sticky and tasted gross. Kodi and Sasha realized that this red liquid was actually,..blood but that meant...

"Kodi, I think we're in trouble!" Said Sasha as she pointed to a couple of grey Timberwolves heading towards them revealing sharp pointed fangs.

"Yep, that's our sign to leave!" Yelled Kodi back. He started to run to Sasha but got tripped by a female anteater.

"What's wrong hotstuff?" Mocked the anteater looking down at him. "Don't you want to stay for a bite?" She showed off her fangs and tried lunging for him but Kodi rolled out of the way in time for her face to meet the blood soaked floor instead

—

Meanwhile at the entrance, Ivan the security guard had begun waking up from his trance and noticed the mayhem on the security feed in the under construction room. He panicked at the sight of the blood rave scene in the construction room. Slowly some of his memories came back.

"Wait, I remember some of those guys trying to ask me for a room but I thought I declined their entrance," Ivan thought. He then notice Sasha and Kodi trying to get away from some of suited mammals trying to grab them and some of them were baring fangs. "Dear god, those two kids are in trouble!" Ivan began picking up his cell to dial 911 but then he noticed a couple of cloaked figures heading his way. The taller one held up his left paw for the peace symbol.

"Do not worry friend, we are here to help," spoke the tall one. He was male and from the paw he had exposed was a lion.

"Who are you and what do you mean by helping?" Asked Ivan. "I'm trying to call the police to save those kids! What the hell are those creatures?"

"Believe those are what us regular mammals call vampires," Said the smaller one pointing with her exposed right paw at some of the vampire wolves going in and still attempting bits on Kodi and Sasha. I am noticed this cloaked small one was a leopard. "Not to worry, mammals such as us have dealt with their kind before. You can call us monster hunters." She walked quickly past Ivan to go help The Jones children.

"If you really want to help them," said the cloaked lion, "I would suggest you refrain from getting the police involved here. These monsters would just kill everyone and escape." Then he and the hidden leopard rushed off to assist the Jones children.

—

Back at the art gallery, the Jones children weren't exactly faring much better. Kodi and Sasha had been trying so hard to dodge the vampire mammals occasionally lunging at them that they couldn't use their weapons properly but of course with the not lunging vampires dancing to the blood shower still going on, the constant bumping from them didn't help their concentration either.

"I don't know how much longer we can keep this up!" Shouted Sasha as she dodged another vampire wolf while trying to sink his fangs into her neck.

"This is tiring me up too and none of us are even closer to the exit!" Kodi yelled back as he too dodged another vampire wolf that almost grazed his neck. Then he saw Sasha being head butted from behind onto the floor by a male vampire brown horse. "Sasha!" He Yelled but then felt himself kicked in the back and onto the blood soaked floor by someone. Turning quickly over, he saw it was the same female anteater from earlier now with a group of fox vampire female twins grinning.

"Hey don't just let her have all the fun," chuckled the anteater. "Let's not forget we have equal bites on both sides!" She and the twins tried lunging for Kodi but he quickly rolled over and those 3 just got a mouthful of floor instead.

Kodi quickly crawled over to the dazed Sasha and helped her through the crowd of dancing vampires to the best of his ability while dodging all the hands trying to grab at them. They hadn't gotten too far when suddenly the crowd parted ways allowing them to crawl faster when their noses met two sets of black boots. Looking up, it was the cloaked figures Ivan had seen but they did not know that except that the tall one had exposed lion paws and the short one had exposed leopard paws.

"please don't hurt us," Sasha whimpered clutching her camera.

"Do not fear little ones because we're here to help," Said the short cloaked leopard helping them stand up. "My teacher and I sensed your trouble and are here to save the day."

Turning back towards the vampire crowd, Kodi and Sasha noticed they all looked angry like they knew who these two were. A chuckling voice was heard from the crowd and out stepped Vincent Rich clapping and laughing.

"Well it looks like tonight we have extra guests or should I say pests at our party," chuckled Vincent. "Fancy you Wesley Swipes and Mrs Ruffy meet me again after a year of hunting!"

The cloaked figures threw off their hoods revealing both a muscle bound dark lion and a smaller female leopard.

"It May have taken us a year but your reign of victims ends tonight Vincent!" Yelled Ruffy brandishing two Asian style daggers from her pockets. Wesley took out a large sword from his sword holster on his back ready for action. Note: Wesley's sword is modeled after the one Uma Thurman uses in Kill Bill.

"Don't think it's over yet," Vincent smiled wickedly. "Attack my fellow blood suckers!"

Then the room erupted into mayhem as the two hunters dashed towards the incoming horde of vampire mammals.

"I'd prepare for battle if I were you two!" Shouted Sarah to the Jones children. With more space now, Kodi and Sasha prepared their taser and pepper spray respectively to get to the exit.

In a blur, Wesley slashed a couple of vampire timber wolves in their necks and then did a swift kick into the chest of a female vampire lioness before plunging his sword through her heart. Sarah did a flip over an incoming vamp buck and tossed one of her daggers into the head of the female anteater that had kept trying to bite Kodi. She then quickly pulled the dagger out of her corpse before rushing towards a vamp dingo.

Kodi and Sasha were having a bit of luck at keeping some of the vampires trying to nip them by spraying them and zapping any that noticed their sneaking away but just before they could get clear, Sasha felt knocked off her guard by an incoming blur. Looking up in horror, her eyes found themselves staring into the beady eyes of Vincent Rich.

"Such a shame our night has to come to an end right away," snickered Vincent swatting the pepper spray out of her right hoof. "Also, let's move this out of the way of your delicious neck." He lifted the camera strap and gently removed it from Sasha's neck before she could stop him and placed it a few feet away. The young Gazelle began to hyperventilate and squirm.

"No, my camera!" Panicked Sasha.

"Hmm, that thing has a special connection to you it seems," snickered Vincent. "Well squirming prey is always fun to indulge in." He lowered his fangs to her neck but just before they could pierce the skin, There came a loud yelling and then he found himself being pushed off her.

"Take that vile fiend!" Yelled Kodi as he grabbed Vincent's left arm and kicked him into the chest off his sister. The teen wolf then picked up the camera carefully and handed it over to Sasha who quickly snatched it and wove it around her neck again. She grabbed her pepper spray too and The two got into defensive positions to prepare themselves.

"Spread out and retreat back to the Phelps base while I deal with these meddling teenagers!" Yelled Vincent. Many of the vampire mammals tore out through the back of the gallery and escaped into the night but not before a few several got stabbed to death by Wesley and Sarah. Including Vincent and the DJ (who abandoned his laptop), about 50 vampires had been inside the party but thanks to the hunters, the number dropped to 25. Kodi and Sasha felt thankful that none of the retreating vampires bothered to try biting them but they felt that meant this base likely housed more vampires and other creatures they'd be bringing back.

"You're not having anymore meals after tonight Rich!" Growled Wesley brandishing his sword.

"Come get me you little kitty," taunted Vincent. The two clashed with incredible speed. Wesley struck hard with his sword twirling but Vincent had his super speed from being in his state. Kodi had seen a few vampire related media and got the idea that these creatures had that ability but he never thought he'd see it in real life. Seeing that Mr Rich was occupied with Mr Swipes, he took his sister's hoof and led her out back through the entrance quietly but also quickly grabbed the abandoned laptop too since it likely wouldn't be going back to the undead.

It seemed Wesley had the upper hand till Vincent caught him a few seconds off guard when the lion had his back turned from one of the twirl clashes and shoved him onto the snack table spilling all the refreshments.

"I've been waiting for this moment since the first time we met," laughed Vincent. "Now it seems you'll not live to slay another one of our line against!"

The others were unable to help him. Ruffy had been drained of energy from all the fighting she did earlier and the Jones children had escaped through the entrance but Wesley still had one trick up his sleeve. He pulled out what looked like a tiny water pistol.

"Ha, what can a mere water pistol do to me?" Chuckled Vincent. "You can't give me a cold, I'm already a creature of the night who can survive in cold!"

Vincent stopped laughing when a stream of water entered his mouth and he began choking.

"Knew your cockiness would be your downfall," laughed Wesley in return. "That's holy water!"

Vincent didn't answer as the holy water continued to choke him. That gave Wesley enough time to shove Vincent off him and pull out a stake from his right coat pocket to stab him in the heart. He stood up and looked over at the dying vampire as he continued to thrash about till he stopped moving.

"Took a year but he's finally finished," gasped the lion panting heavily as he dropped his holy water pistol. Ruffy regained a bit of energy and made her way over to him.

"Glad he's finished," she said. "But we're not finished yet, there are still those others out there."

"Let's just savor this moment for now," Wesley replied.

After escaping the vampire rush, Kodi and Sasha hitched a bus ride to a stop closest to their house. They snuck in quietly without being noticed since their parents were watching TV on the big flatscreen in the living room which ironically happened to be some creature feature about night terrors like monster bats.

Upstairs in Kodi's room the two teens sat on Kodi's big bed panting heavily after their near brush with death.

"Man, That close encounter with the vampires nearly became the end of us and it all started from just a night out on the town!" Kodi exclaimed.

"I was afraid we'd never make it out but I'm glad those weapons we got from mom and dad paid off," added Sasha.

"Yeah, cheers to pepper spray and a taser!" Laughed Kodi. "Now how about some music to calm us down?" He pulled out the laptop from his bag he had taken from the vamp DJ.

"Hey, isn't that the same laptop from the rave of the vampires from the art gallery?" Questioned Sasha.

"Was but it's my property now," grinned Kodi. Before Sasha opened her mouth to protest, Kodi quickly rebutted with his own defense. "In my defense, this is the former property of a blood sucking mammal that could have bitten us too and I don't think he'd miss it now,"

"Fine," huffed Sasha. "But you might want to clean off that blood."

Kodi looked over and noticed the laptop he held in his right paw had blood dripping over it likely from the keg spray earlier. Thankfully since he hadn't pulled it out completely from his bag and the fact that his taser was in his left pocket, the only thing in his bag that had gotten bloody were some bags of chips and chocolate. Sasha fetched a box of tissues from his bedside table and helped clean her brother's paw and the laptop all over including the inside where some of the blood had seeped in.

"Thanks sis," smiled Kodi. He set the laptop on his desk for them and powered it on to discover it thankfully had no password encrypted code to open. He clicked login and discovered it had been set to a playlist but what caught his interest more was a tab on the right labeled "Important Plans" After clicking on it, they weren't prepared for what was inside.

A page spelling out "Test Subjects For The Field" greeted them as the intro cover for what looked like a set of documents. Kodi decided to click further so the both of them could look further into this but the thing they were unprepared for were the details and images of what laid in the following pages.

The pages after the cover had listed various mammals of various species for the sole purpose of "field testing" as the pages for each mammal called it but the rather unsettling thing is that most of the mammals looked rather fearful in their photos like they knew they were being doomed or being forced into these things against their wills. Some of them even had progress pictures which often got gory for any of the "failed" subjects that were deemed unworthy during the experiments. The biggest note about the tests were the obsession of creating these ordinary mammals into supernatural beings such as vampires and were creatures. One of the more nicer pages happened to be on a certain mammal who looked more calm:

Name: Bunga Sudenland

Experiment Number: 525

Transformation Status: Complete

Species Testing Choice: Vampire

Additional info: Bunga is quite the willing subject. Out of the few willing participants, he seems to enjoy all the prospects of his new transformation as he has stated that he was often an outcast from his tendency to annoy others but participated when approached without hesitation to hopefully gain respect. Reported last saying he felt the urge to hunt in Sahara Square for another field run.

That last bit chilled Sasha and Kodi. They had heard Hannah and Robyn were attacked in that area by some horrific creature. Could this have been the same creature responsible for their friends hospitalizations?

After a few more unsettling pictures of other mammals going through successful or failed transformations, they came to the last page of the latest test subject but there appeared to be only one photo of the mammal that was partially blurred like something attacked the photographer. The information also appeared to be missing some important details:

Name: ?

Experiment Number: 626

Transformation Status: Complete

Species Testing Choice: Were Lioness

Additional info: Dubbed Savanna Brianna from finding her in the Savanna Central from some cave in accident. Subject was named Brianna due to not finding an identification of her real name though she suffers from amnesia. From the amnesia, we successfully fooled her into thinking she is A willing test subject and have added her into the line for our next Were creature experiment. After many tests, our were lioness is possibly our best yet but is extremely fragile due to her random memory flashes and then trying to regain them. She recently attack our photographer from another memory flash and was not restrained at the time and then escaped through a cracked window. Photographer was pronounced dead shortly after and fed to the leeches. It is with great care to approach this subject due to her unstable nature if found.

Once finished reading that, Kodi exited out of the tab as both siblings felt a chill from all the horrific details they just gazed upon. Testing on mammals, field test runs and what was that nonsense about feeding a dead mammal to leeches?

"Kodi, this is scaring me," shivered Sasha clutching onto his right arm. "What is all this?" Her brother slowly turned his head towards her looking concerned.

"Don't have much of a clue but this tells us that those vampires that nearly bit us tonight maybe are linked to this," Kodi replied feeling a bit scared. "A great evil that Zootopia isn't prepared for."


	4. Chapter 4

Another chapter of the vampire AU, and the last one I have planned.

Honestly, I never intended to make a full 400,000 word epic like the original Star of Ceartais, just wanted to set up the situation.

Robyn's feet slammed into the pavement, the momentary pain of impact fading in seconds. She checked the white-furred hybrid clinging to her back, who seemed none the worse for wear, in fact Hannah seemed more… exhilarated than anything as she stepped down to the ground. Hannah licked her orange girlfriend on the cheek, saying, "wow, that was what? 20 feet?"

Robyn looked back up to her bedroom window, judging the distance. "Just twelve I think. Seems we're loose now, what do you want to do next?"

Hannah gave it some thought, it was tempting to go to all the places they'd imagined visiting on dates before she lost her sight. The airship docks of the rainforest district, the Tundratown ice rivers, Sahara Square… But no, she still couldn't see anything that wasn't alive, she knew she was in a packed neighborhood but all she could see were the faint outlines of various mammals and even more faded plants in the black void. Maybe they could find some clue to their conditions in Sahara Square though. "I think we need to go back to where we were attacked."

Her girlfriend nodded in agreement, and led her off in the direction of the Square.

Olivia Dawson's disembodied consciousness soared over the cityscape, searching for a pair of life forces she knew second-hand. She thought she had a bead on them, but another flare-up of essence caught her attention and she found herself drifting away to another vaguely familiar aura. A werelion, rampaging through the back streets of Sahara Square. Fortunately there weren't many mammals nearby, and they seemed to flee before him. Wait, him? Yes, this was a male werelion, not the werelioness she'd fought last week. Was there a whole pride of them in the city? And there was another odd thing, he didn't show the usual bloodlust she'd seen in the auras of most changed werebeasts, it looked more like… confusion?

Olivia made a mental note of it to inform the Loxleys once she returned to her body, and tried to return her attention to their grand-daughter and her girlfriend. She found them on the move, traveling from their Meadowlands homes to Sahara Square, and stinking of vampirism. Robyn had the stronger taint, very young and late generation, but a full-fledged bloodsucker now. Hannah, oddly, appeared to still live, but she carried some tainted blood, had Robyn already learned how to create a ghoul?

The mouse mage shook her astral head in dismay. She didn't want to break it to the Hood and the Maid that their youngest grandchild was one of the undead. There was one other thing that could stall that awkward conversation on this projection, those two hotshot Hunters had mentioned a couple survivors of that museum massacre. Gazelle's kids, Kodi and Sasha, she had to make sure they hadn't been turned.

Olivia found the adopted siblings together, shock, horror, and astonishment in their auras. They were reading something on a laptop, but she couldn't read it with her astral sight. And, there was something else, a spark hidden in the wolf's aura. Intrigued, she pried actively into his essence to confirm her suspicions. Mana, faint, undeveloped, but with potential. She'd found a latent mage. If only she had time to guide him into his power now, but no, there was a werelion loose in Sahara Square and a vampire and her ghoul headed straight for him.

Kodi abruptly stood up, heading for the exit. "I think I need to go to Sahara," he said. "Take a sniff around where Robbie and Stripes were attacked. Keep looking around that laptop."

With alarm Olivia realized she was still embedded in the wolf's aura. She withdrew abruptly and soared back towards the lab before she could accidentally influence him further. With no time to rejoin her body she diverted her astral form to her latest Spitfire construct, she'd inform the rest of the team over the radio on the way.

"Are we there yet?" Hannah asked, her ears and spectral sight taking in the sounds and auras around her. It sounded vaguely familiar to the hybrid vixen, but it was difficult to verify if they were really nearing their destination.

Robyn looked up from the map on her phone for a moment and looked around the area before answering her girlfriend. "I think it's a few more blocks. Doesn't look too different."

Hannah abruptly perked an ear up at the sound of a sickeningly familiar voice coming up the alley. "I should thank them for getting me the position." The striped hybrid tapped her girlfriend on the shoulder and pointed over to a nearby alley. Robyn cocked her own ear in the same direction, and froze as she recognized the voice as well. "Not that there's anything here anymore. If not for the police tape I'd think they made it all up."

Robyn slunk up to the wall beside the alley, instinctively seeking out the shadows. She inched up to the alleyway to cautiously peek around the corner and confirm her suspicions. Robyn let out a gasp without breath when the bullying teenage musk deer came into view. Patricia was on Muzzletime panning the camera of her phone around the crime scene outlined by yellow tape. "Now that stupid freak can't dance, coach is sure to make me captain."

Robyn's blood boiled at that comment. Who did this cervine bitch think she was? Even blinded Hannah could outperform her easily. Before she could stop herself Robyn flung herself out of the shadows at the musk deer and slapped the phone out of her hand with enough force to crash it into a brick wall.

Patricia's surprise turned to anger and derision as soon as she recognized the orange hybrid. "Oh, so you're still alive are you? Why aren't you at school then? Afraid to show your face without that stripey girlfriend of yours backing you up?"

"I just had a reaction to a blood transfusion." Robyn snarled. "And you're not getting Hannah's position even if she's blind now."

The deer picked up her broken phone. "You owe me a new phone, freak. And neither of you are remotely in my league. You're just a mismatch of bunny and fox."

Robyn's fists clenched in barely suppressed fury. "Are you asking for another bruising?"

"Oh please, I would have beaten you bloody if those teacher hadn't interfered, freak." Patricia flexed her cloven hooves and pawed the ground impatiently.

Robyn glared at the musk doe. How dare this little mortal think she was better than them? Did she not know her place in this foodchain? She channeled her disdain into her glare and took a grim satisfaction as her prey's self-assurance slowly melted away. As the dominance struggle wore on Patricia started to regain some vestige of self-control, blinking in confusion. Before she lost the opportunity Robyn pounced! Her teeth sank into the short doe's neck as she fell backwards to the pavement, her skull cracking sickeningly. The young vampire greedily slurped up her first true meal as Patricia's breathing slowed and the light faded from her eyes.

Hannah, slowly feeling her way over to the pair of shapes she knew were her girlfriend and nemesis, watched in horror as the dim red aura she'd associated with Robyn brightened and Patricia's vibrant yellow aura faded to a dim grey, and then vanished from Robyn's grasp. "Robbie, no! What are you doing?"

But it was too late, the musk deer who'd once tormented them in school was now a lifeless chunk of meat.

The rage drained from Robyn's mind along with the life from her bully turned food. She realized what she had done too late to save the now bloodless musk deer. The hybrid vampire stood, her fangs sunk into a cooling neck, and abruptly pulled back. Patricia's glazed eyes were left half open, no sign of breath. Robyn grabbed the deer's left hand in her right and attempted to feel for a pulse with her own left, as she let go the body dangled like a marionette with half the strings cut. Gasping in horror Robyn let the carcass crumple to the concrete. "What have I done?"

"Is she… dead?" Hannah asked, continuing to creep towards her undead girlfriend. "I can't see her anymore."

"I'm just like that badger." Robyn's knees buckled and she collapsed to the ground clutching her stomach. "Sucked out her blood and…" A terrible thought struck her. "On scat, she's not going to become a vampire too is she?"

Hannah stopped, the badger had gouged her eyes out after she watched him drain Robyn. Many stories she'd read about vampires had anyone killed by them becoming a bloodsucker themselves, but then there were those that required something more. And she had gained some sort of power from drinking both the badger's and Robyn's blood. "I don't know, but I'm pretty sure we don't want Patricia with vampire powers. Is there something nearby we could use as a stake?"

Robyn started looking around frantically, maybe she was strong enough to break off the handle on one of those dumpsters or something. She grabbed a bar twice the length of her own body and yanked, it bent but did not break off. Her small body didn't have the mass to simply pull it loose. Still she kept tugging at it to no avail.

The ground rumbled with the sound of a monstrous roar. In shock Robyn lifted her feet to press against the side of the dumpster for better leverage but it was still not enough to wrench it off before the source of the noise arrived.

A berserk lion crashed down the street, fangs like shortswords bared and claws tearing into the pavement. Hannah recoiled in horror until her retreat was abruptly halted by a small gap in the pavement. Watching her girlfriend tumble Robyn abandoned the bent rod and instead leapt for the largest object she could throw in the vicinity, Patricia's corpse.

The ragdoll-like deer hit the monstrous lion with a sickening wet crunch. He reached up and lifted the carcass off of his mane with one meaty paw that wrapped around its waist completely and flung it aside. Patricia's remains skidded across the rough pavement, leaving a dark red trail in its wake.

Desperate now, Robyn sprang up into the air and slammed an orange rabbit-foot into the lion's side. It felt like kicking a cement wall. She just barely managed to spring out of reach before it grabbed her. The hybrid's back slammed into a brick wall, leaving her spine a broken mess as powdered brick fell to the ground below. Robyn's back started to knit back together almost immediately but she knew that she'd be torn to pieces as soon as she hit the ground, and was pleasantly surprised when her scrambling found purchase on the gapless wall. Her palms stuck fast to the bricks like a spider's legs, she could hang up there until she was done healing. Except that Hannah was still on the ground with the beast! "Hannah!" She exclaimed, "get out of here!"

On hearing the striped hybrid's name the immense lion paused, confused. Something about that name was familiar, he couldn't place it in his enraged state though, all he could remember was that it was somewhat important. His contemplations were interrupted by a small white square bouncing harmlessly off the back of his head and a more masculine voice calling out "hey you, pick on someone your own size!"

The lion reeled around to see a teenage wolf standing behind him, a fan of playing cards in one hand. He had a cocky expression that faded away rapidly as he realized just how massive the mammal he'd taunted was. "I… guess that's not me." He whimpered as his ears drooped. The lion lunged before he could escape and Kodi did the one thing he could think of, throwing his other cards at the beast. As he swung to toss them the cards started glowing orange, and much to everyone's surprise, upon impact with the lion they detonated in a flash of flame and a cloud of smoke.

Robyn's spine was still cracking back into place when the immense lion roared in pain. She couldn't wait to get back into peak condition, this beast was threatening _her_ mammals. Hannah and Kodi were not _this interloper's_ prey. She shoved herself off the wall and dove onto the raging lion, sinking her claws into his back.

As the feline bucked and roared to throw off the hybrid vampire she scanned the rapidly dissipating smoke cloud for any sign of the wolf. "Kodi, where the heck are you?"

Hannah watched as Kodi's brilliant aura slipped out from under the lion's claws and slunk away towards her. She responded instantly to her love's question and pointed him out, "he's over there." How could Robyn not see that? She thought.

The orange hybrid's head spun around to look in the direction her lover indicated. At first it looked like a bare patch of pavement, but then the faint outline of a wolf appeared above it, slowly consolidating into the form of their friend. "Stripes?" He asked. "Did you sniff me out or something?"

"No." She shouted back. "Scent isn't that precise, I… wait." Now that she thought about it Hannah took note of the scents surrounding her. She could distinctly recognize the scent of her girlfriend, now mixed with the must of a preserved corpse and the coppery smell of fresh blood, the far riper scent of Patricia's soiled and ragged carcass, Kodi's musk tinged with an odd bit of ozone, and beneath a bit of charred flesh the scent of… "Kion?" She asked. "Is Kion here?"

"Kion?" The giant lion paused his thrashing as the new, even more familiar name jogged his memory. Kion, that was him, he was a high school senior, Kodi was one of his classmates, along with Robyn, Hannah… but why were they fighting him now? "What? What's happening?"

Robyn had barely enough time to jump off the were-lion's back before a massive steel fist slammed down on his head, knocking him unconscious. Robyn sized up the golem that had just dropped from the roof above, it looked like the robot the news had spotted fighting crime across the city, and seemed to be gauging her now. "Spitfire?" She asked the silent construct. "What's going on?"

"Hey," Kodi interrupted, pointing to the unconscious naked lion rapidly shrinking back down to a normal size. "That's Kion, what happened to him?" The wolf took notice of the lion's state of undress and quickly turned away. "And he's naked. You're lucky you're blind Hannah."

"It would take too long to explain here." Spitfire's voice had this odd high but massively amplified pitch. "You're coming with us."

"Coming with you?" Kodi replied. "Are you with Wesley and Ruffy?"

"Those reckless amateurs? I'd prefer not but we don't have many other options. Now come on, don't make this difficult." A long straight spike extended from Spitfire's forearm.

The lights of an approaching van shone off in the distance as Robyn, now fully healed, stood defiantly. "We're not going anywhere until we get an explanation."

The coming van screeched to a half and Luna Wilde stuck her head out the driver's side window. "Robbie, don't." Robyn looked from the menacing construct extending what looked like a stake to her sister's grief-stricken face. "We want to help you."

The lingering traces of mortality in the orange hybrid recognized Luna's concern for her baby sister, while the night-creature in her saw that the vixen knew what she was. But it also realized that it knew very little about itself and recognized an exploitable weakness in this potential source of information. Robyn held her hands up cautiously. "Okay Lu, no trouble, just promise me you'll tell us what's going on."


End file.
